The Fire After the War
by moonstruckgirl15
Summary: Anthy searches the world for Utena and finds her nine years after the final duel. Utena is a firefighter in the Windy City, with a family and a life of her own. The pair quickly find themselves wrapped up in each other as they rekindle their relationship and start anew. However, being free doesn't guarantee a life of perfect happiness, as they soon learn. Title/rating may change
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Anthy Himemiya had never been to Chicago before she stepped the plane at the O'Hare International Airport. She had been to America, sure, one or two centuries ago, but that had been in the Southeast, among cotton plantations and hard stares. 21st Century Chicago was markedly different from that. No fields to be seen, only large buildings and skyscrapers, and the stares, while equal in number, were less hard and more…

Well, Anthy wouldn't dwell on that. She pulled her chic green jacket tighter and turned up the heat in her shiny rental car. It was November, and here in the middle of North America the air was chilled as though in a freezer, and very windy to boot. The witch supposed she should have expected it. Chicago was, according to the cute little tourist website she had looked on, the Windy City. Still, another notch up on the temperature dial wouldn't hurt anyone. It had never been cold in Ohtori, not really. Or, maybe it had, and she had just never noticed (which was very possible). Either way, she wasn't prepared for this, but she would make do.

She drove with solemn caution into the city proper, vigilantly watching the other cars for signs of reckless behavior while also struggling to remember the directions to her hotel. Her hands squeezed the steering wheel tightly, and her knuckles turned a strange pasty color with the force of her grip. She didn't like being downtown. It was the same in every city, overflowing with people and noises, strange smells and colors and shapes. The textures of steel and concrete; she had surely felt them before, but never with such… intensity. She never got used to it, either, and she always felt such relief when she left to search elsewhere.

Anthy forced herself to take a few deep breaths and relax her hands. They were starting to hurt, and she knew from experience that if she didn't get hold of herself then she would have a panic attack. With considerable will power and self control, learned over centuries, she beat back her negative thoughts. She couldn't break down here, not while she was driving at least. Waiting at a slow traffic light, she shut her eyes and waited for her heart rate to return to normal. A peep came from her purse, and then ChuChu appeared. He jumped onto her shoulder and pressed his small paws against her neck, cheeping soothingly.

"I'll be alright, ChuChu," she said with a sigh. "Better when we get to the hotel."

Which they did, and in one piece too. Anthy parked and turned off the car, ready at once to hand the keys to the valet who opened her door. He gave her the instructions on checking in and getting her car back, and she stumbled through her thank you's in a way that made him smile, as though he found her cute. When she could, she escaped inside. Skies, she needed to be alone where she could breathe easy and think. There really were far too many people here.

The lobby was bright and clean, but she had trouble appreciating its artful mix of historic and modern style. She wrung the strap of her purse nervously as she struggled to work up the courage to go to the front desk. ChuChu was safely hidden from sight. He couldn't comfort her here. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself with some effort, and walked. Information and money were exchanged for a key, and then she escaped to the elevator and eventually to her room. Inside, she leaned back against the door and shut her eyes. She rubbed her temples and spent a minute just breathing. It fixed the most immediate problem, but she knew she would need time before she could muster the energy to leave again.

With a sigh, she settled on the bed, placing her singular suitcase next to her. ChuChu hopped into her lap, and she petted his head while cursing herself internally. In nine years almost nothing had changed. When she had left Ohtori and her brother behind, changing her life so radically, she had thought (foolishly) that she could change anything and everything else she wanted with just as much ease. However, reality served a quick and effective slap in the face that dispelled this optimism. Fear and anxiety held like a vice around her heart and mind, leaving her crippled and thoroughly underequipped to deal with modern society.

It was a most unfair disability. When she was around one person or a small group of people, Anthy could be as poised and charming as she had always been, but any number of people larger than twelve and she could no longer keep her cool, collected demeanor. Her thoughts would become erratic and irrational, her heart rate would increase, and she would start to sweat. If she didn't get away, she would often begin to tremble and fidget. Skies forbid she had to talk to someone, because then she either couldn't work up the nerve or she stammered her way awkwardly through the conversation, making a complete fool of herself. Frankly, it was disgusting, and she was disgusted with herself for still being that way nine years later.

Maybe she should see someone about it. Apparently, there were people in the real world called psychologists, and supposedly they helped other people overcome problems like hers. Anthy was, of course, wary of anyone who claimed wanting to "help" other people, but still… it might be worth some research in the future.

Now though, there was no time for such things. She had come to Chicago for a reason, the same reason she had traveled to every other city in the world. To find Utena. Yes, even after nine years of diligent, desperate searching she still had not found her wayward hero. It was infuriating. She _knew_ that Utena was alive _somewhere_. Her certainty about this was unshakeable. The "where" was the still unsolved problem. The normal methods Anthy would have used to find Utena had proven useless. Scrying and divination were the first things she had tried and they had given her nothing at all. She had gathered all of Utena's earthly possessions and had tried with each of them to feel her way to her beloved through the bond they shared. Still nothing. Three years were wasted on these ventures, and, feeling outmatched and humiliated by reality, Anthy resigned herself to the manual method of scouring the world in person. Thank the skies, earth, and oceans that some of her powers still worked, giving her access to unlimited funds and means of transport. Otherwise, she never would have made it out of Asia.

Meticulously, she searched the seemingly innumerable cities in the seemingly innumerable nations of the modern world, getting information by any means necessary. She bribed policemen, hired private investigators, and wound her way through the seedy underbelly of civilized society on more occasions than she could count. She spoke to government officials and criminals alike, racking up favors and maybe even earning something of a name for herself to be whispered among elites and undesirables of all kinds. It's possible she helped smuggle drugs across the border once or twice. It's possible that she helped a minor politician run his competitors out of the race by either finding or planting evidence of foul play. It's also possible that she became complicit in several acts of espionage, and almost single-handedly brought about the recent implosion of the communist regime of North Korea. She didn't think she could be blamed for that last one though when they _clearly_ shot first when she just wanted to talk to them.

All of this in the name of information, in the name of her quest. It had all proved worthless until just recently. 8 years into her exhausting and exhaustive hunt, she remembered one final magical procedure that might help her. Abruptly filled with renewed vigor, she briefly changed course and set out for India. Once upon a time, when human beings were struggling to build the most basic of belief systems and philosophies to understand the cosmos, the primitive peoples of undivided South Asia revered a mountain deep in the jungle. This mountain had several caves in it, and the top most cave, set near the peak of the mountain, contained something of unprecedented power and importance. A kind of divination that had long since been forgotten by humanity, but surely still existed in that sacred space. Anthy went there, parsing out hidden scraps of knowledge about its location and how to get inside. It was the most difficult job she had undertaken thus far, for the legends of the mountain were so old and obscure these days that even the most obsessed scholars knew nothing or almost nothing about it. It took a full year to find it. Consequentially, it was the longest she had ever stayed in one place since leaving Ohtori.

Anthy remembered the extensive preparation process, which involved three weeks religious devotion to meditation and ritual, the forging of a ceremonial knife, and then finally the five day trek on foot through the jungle and up the mountain.

 _She remembered finally reaching the cave and being struck by a sudden and severe sense of nostalgia and grief. The path up the entrance was flanked by a series of worn standing stones. If you were to peel back the moss and vines and scrub away the dirt, you might be able to see lines in the stones, the eroded details of an intricate series of carvings meant to protect and provide courage and wisdom to all who sought answers within the temple beyond. Anthy had felt a knot in her throat and an uncomfortable burning in her eyes. She remembered when those carvings were new._

 _Pushing past it, however, she had continued, entering the impenetrable darkness of the ancient grotto. She had not been afraid. A human almost certainly would be when they felt the weight of that pregnant blackness on their shoulders. Anthy, however, walked forward with confidence, and eventually, she found light. Outside the cave, it was the middle of the night, but the moon was at its zenith, illuminating the space within the mountain via the strange, naturally made hole in the summit._

 _In the center of the cavern was a large stone bowl set low to the ground. It was empty and plain, yet it emanated a pulsing energy that left Anthy's skin tingling. Here was a thing even older than she, though not by much. As such, it was operated and protected by Old Magic, the energy of the primordial cosmos that lower beings such as humans were only just beginning to glimpse. She knelt to pay her respects._

 _A sound of chains rattling made her look up, her shoulders straightening and her muscles tensing. From one of the dark corners emerged a chimera of a creature. Its legs were those of a man's, its arms were the wings was a wyvern, its chest was covered in white fur and tiger stripes, and its neck and head were that of a great serpent. The chains Anthy had heard were wrapped around its human legs. The metal surely had a name once upon a time, but she couldn't recall it._

 _This creature was the Guardian of this place, as immortal and long-lived as she. That it was chained meant that it hadn't volunteered to be the Guardian, but rather was forced to take the job due to the mandate of a higher power. She pitied it, but was careful not to show that pity on her face._

 _It appraised her with glowing yellow eyes, forked tongue flicking out. Then it spoke. "You have not prepared a sacrifice. You have no business here."_

 _Silently, Anthy retrieved the ceremonial knife from the sheath that hung around her waist. "I have what it is required," she responded coolly._

 _The Guardian regarded her with open curiosity. Its tongue flicked out again. "Ah, I see. Very Well. You may ask your question." Job performed, it retreated back into its corner. Left in peace at last, Anthy turned her attention back to the task at hand. She pulled out a small lighter too and lit it under the knife in her other hand. She murmured an incantation in a language lost to time, repeating it over and over until the blade was the right temperature, hot but not enough to cauterize a wound. That was tricky, but she'd practiced plenty of times of the past month._

 _She pocketed the lighter and, heated blade in hand, slashed her own wrist, unwilling to waste any more time. No need for a sacrifice when you were skilled at being one already. She held her arm over the bowl and repeated the incantation again, the volume of her voice rising gradually with the level of blood in the bowl, until it was nearly full and she was shouting with all her might._

 _She knew that it was finished when the color in the stone changed. That is to say, it lost all color entirely and became as clear as water. Anthy smiled proudly. The ritual had gone exactly as planned, and now she could get what had come for._

 _She spoke, and as she spoke, she thought about Utena, and all the things that had happened between them. Battles won and lost, whispered conversations at night in adjoining beds, hands and bodies touching again and again (never forceful, always sweet), blood and pain, tears and confessions, laughter and delight, betrayal, horror, shock, and ultimately, salvation. So many things she had never known, or hadn't experienced in longer than memory. All of these memories she replayed in her mind, pushing all of them into her words. She spoke. "Where is Utena Tenjou, Calyx concealing the essence of Heaven above, Duelist, Hero, Lover, Beloved, Blade of Reckoning, Champion against Temptation, Fire of the Revolution, and Keeper of my Heart?"_

 _Silence followed her query. Anthy waited. Silence prevailed. Still she waited, and her patience paid off. Abruptly, the surface of the once crimson pool rippled and began to swirl. Anthy peered into it expectantly. After a minute or two, an image besides that of her face formed in the reflection. It took several seconds to fully coalesce._

 _When it did, Anthy saw fire. She recoiled in surprise, almost falling over. Righting herself, she looked at it again. Still fire, lots of it in fact, but now that the shock had passed, she could see other things as well. Buildings, streets flooded with people and fire trucks. Yes, that made sense. A building was on fire, a place called Willem and Hobbes, Attorneys at Law. She peered closer and saw a street sign in English and a building in the distance taller than any she had seen before, taller than the Akio's tower by a long stretch. The fire was getting bigger, eclipsing everything else in view. Anthy scrambled to find any other significant details. Windows. People's jackets. The red of the nearest fire engine. And then, nothing. The image faded away as quickly as it had appeared, and then the bowl was empty and spotlessly clean. There was nothing left but the light of the moon above._

 _Anthy sighed. She shouldn't feel disappointed. Really this was a magnificent triumph, especially compared to all her other efforts. She had a place, names to research, and a distinct marker to guide her steps. She just… wished that she could have caught even a single glimpse of Utena herself. One couldn't have everything, she supposed. Not here in the real world._

 _Still, this was a success. This was_ _ **victory**_ _. Anthy left the sacred cave and descended the mountain feeling that victory every step of the way. After a year of atrophy, her search could continue with renewed vigor, and surely would be ending soon._

Back in the present, Anthy smiled as she remembered that feeling. She felt much better now. She had discovered in her new freedom that happy memories didn't hurt to think about anymore. It was amazing what a little bit of hope could do to change a person's outlook on their life. And here in this city, she had a lot of hope. Upon her return to civilization from the hidden places of the Old World, she had immediately found the most stable internet connection and searched. The law firm she had seen and the street name turned up the name, Chicago. A little more research and she found that unimaginably tall building, the Sears Tower. Indeed, Akio would be quite envious of this place if he ever saw it. Discarding any and all notions of patience she had had a week before, she had rushed to book the next flight to the U.S.

Looking back, she pitied the poor man or woman who dared try to figure out her financial records or answer the question of why she could keep swiping her credit card without paying a single bill for it. Oh well. She'd mail them a cake one day.

ChuChu started to make noise in her lap. He jumped up and down, chirping expectantly at her. "You just had a snack on the plane," she told him firmly. He wouldn't budge. Instead, he became more insistent, demanding that they find a place to eat, preferably one with corned beef. Anthy rolled her eyes. "You know, you've gained a lot of weight since we went to Europe," she groused even as she got up. His tail flicked cheekily in response.

Anthy went to the mirror and fixed her hair and jacket, maybe for longer than necessary, but eventually she was satisfied and she grabbed her purse, her pet, and her room key before heading out the door.

The lobby was still crowded, but with clenched fists and a tense jaw she strode to the rotating glass doors. The outside was just as loud and overbearing as she had left it, but she had work to do. She'd get something to eat for ChuChu and head to the Hall of Records for a day of tedious but hopefully fruitful research. Depending on what she found, she would divide her time efficiently to cover as much ground as possible. ChuChu would object, mostly because her packed schedules rarely left time for eating, but he would go along with it for his friend, as always.

The Hall of Records, and if not that then the nearest internet café, then most likely to the post office, then another post office, or possibly a university. Utena wouldn't be in college, but maybe graduate school? Of course, Utena had never been the best or the smartest person at Ohtori, far from it in fact, but reality changed people, didn't it? Thinking about that made her sad, and she was so distracted by this sadness that she was oblivious to the woman in the leather jacket with flowing pink hair until she grabbed Anthy's arm. The witch was so on edge that she acted purely on defensive instinct, whipping out her small bottle of pepper spray and letting it loose right in the other woman's face.

"FUCKING SHIT!" Anthy saw whirls of pink and black as Utena Tenjou reeled away from her, holding her hands to her eyes, and cursing at the top of her lungs. "Fuckie fuck FUCK! OOOWWWW!"

The bottle of spray hit the ground along with Anthy's jaw. She stood there stunned and speechless, her mouth open like a fish's. It took several eternal seconds of watching the most important person of her life flail around and cuss before she could come up with something better to do than just stand there frozen. "U-Utena?" She asked, forcing her lips at last to form coherent sounds.

"Ugghh, Anthy, what the hell?! That was fucking PEPPER SPRAY, God in Heaven!" Utena was bent over herself, still clutching at her face and crying out. Passerbys were watching the whole spectacle with interest.

"I-I'm sorry, s-s-so sorry, Utena-sama!" Anthy found she could move, and she put her arms around Utena's hunched form and hurriedly escorted her off the sidewalk and into a back lot safe from prying eyes. With shaking hands, she rubbed the other woman's back in a silly attempt to soothe her, all while listening to the soft, vehement oaths coming out of Utena's mouth in sets of four or five at a time. "I don't know what you need, I'm sorry, Utena-sama!"

"It's okay, it'll be okay, just get me to a sink or a hose or something!" Utena said, wiping away the tracks from the tears streaming down her face. "The sandwich shop, Gilardi's, get me to the backdoor. They know me, they'll let us in."

"Where is it?" Anthy asked, helping Utena straighten up.

Utena started to point but then thought better of it. "It's next door," she said instead. Sure enough, after some quick scanning Anthy found the backdoor, and was able to haul Utena over and inside the restaurant.

The witch had imagined what their reunion would be like countless times, in countless different ways. But this was not one of them. As she watched Utena wash her eyes out with water and dish soap, she leaned against a wall and let the weight of it all come down on her shoulders. ChuChu leapt out of her purse to watch like some thoroughly entertained spectator, while his friend felt a headache coming on.

A shining reunion indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: D'you like Sam Adams?

"I really am sorry, Utena-sama," Anthy said, looking down into her drink, a blush heating her face. Across from her at the little high table sat Utena, rubbing her red eyes with a napkin to clean up the tears that still occasionally leaked out. The pink-haired younger woman looked a little worse for wear, but Anthy marveled that she was still the loveliest person in the room.

Utena smiled shakily and reached out with her free hand to pat Anthy's. "It's alright, Anthy. I'll be fine, honest. Now could you please drop the sama from my name? It's been nine years after all. The games are over, and we're not engaged anymore."

"Okay, Utena-sa… Utena." That earned Anthy another small grin.

"Thanks." There was silence between them then that neither knew how to break. The only noises were those of the restaurant and ChuChu discretely munching on potato chips out of the public eye. Anthy didn't know what to say, and for a while it seemed that Utena was in the same predicament. Then she said, "So… you're out. Free at last… you are, aren't you?"

Anthy nodded. "I am. I left shortly after you disappeared." She couldn't resist smiling, or the way that Utena's eyes softened when she saw it. "I packed my things, told Akio I was leaving right to his face, and then I just walked out."

"That sounds amazing," Utena said warmly. "I wish I could have seen it."

"It was… exhilarating. Magical, a catharsis." She chuckled, a little embarrassed. "I had never felt such satisfaction before as I did walking away without a second glance."

"I'm so glad," Utena said, her voice soft but fiercely sincere. She moved their hands so that their fingers were intertwined, and she ran her thumb across Anthy's knuckles. "What about the others? Do you know what happened to them?"

Anthy shrugged somewhat awkwardly. She didn't feel the least bit sad that she had not seen any of the other Duelists or Ohtori students since that glorious day, but she felt bad not knowing for Utena's sake. "I haven't seen any of them since I left, but… I could tell that they were healing, becoming stronger, and starting to overcome whatever had held them back before. I suspect that they have all graduated by now."

Utena shut her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "That makes me feel so much better. I can't tell you how many times I've worried about them, trapped in that place. It really made me wonder what happens to people who never graduate."

Anthy knew what happened to people like that. It wasn't pleasant. But she would keep that knowledge to herself. "I think they're fine," she said reassuringly. "I imagine it's much easier to graduate now that I'm gone."

"Why is that?" Utena asked, watching her.

Anthy paused, but then decided that Utena had to know enough already that this wasn't even a secret. "Without my power, Akio will not be able to hold people like he used to. He will try, but he will fail."

That blue gaze hardened, became angry, and for a moment Anthy was afraid, but then she scolded herself for feeling something so ridiculous. Utena gritted her teeth together. Anthy could see the skin of her jaw pale. The pink-haired girl's entire body grew tense, except her hand in Anthy.

"It still makes me so angry," Utena said, and Anthy had to lean in to hear her. " _Akio_ ," she spat. "That bastard. I get sick just thinking about everything he put you through, everything he put our friends through. I almost wish he was here so I could finally smash that smug face in."

Anthy moved her drink in order to take Utena's hand in both of hers. "What's done is done. It doesn't matter now. He's not someo-"

"Of course it matters!" Utena hissed, struggling to maintain the volume of her voice. "Don't you ever say that it doesn't. What he did… god, I can't stand to think… and what he did to you for so long, I just…" She roughly pressed her free fist to her eyes, knuckling away more tears to the best of her ability.

Anthy reached out and gently pushed Utena's hand away so she could wipe her face with a clean napkin. "There," she said comfortingly, her fingers lingering on pale cheeks. She sighed. "You're right, Utena. It amazes me how often you're right about things. It does matter, but it's the past and can't be changed. It matters, but what matters more is that it will never happen again. We're not there anymore, and that place has no power over us."

"That's true," Utena said. There was silence for a minute or two, and then she asked, "Are you done with that? Do you want to get out of here?"

"Yes," Anthy said, though her cup was far from empty. And if Utena noticed that she hadn't chosen to eat anything, she decided not to comment. The younger woman called over a waiter, a boy named George.

"Hey there, brat," she said, smiling at him. "Can we get our check?"

"Call me brat again, and I'll make you pay the whole restaurant's bill," the boy said matter-of-factly, and Utena snickered.

"Okay, squirt, no need for anything drastic," she said, holding up her hands in playful surrender. Anthy watched this interaction with rapt interest.

"I'm only five years younger than you, ya know," he said. Then he glanced at Anthy with clear, inquisitive hazel eyes. "So, is this your sugar mama or what?" He asked Utena. Anthy blinked, while Utena lightly shoved the boy with her arm.

"Don't be rude," she scolded him, frowning. "I'll have you know that this is Anthy Himemiya. Anthy, this punk ass kid is George. He's the owner's son, and he ought to spend less time bussing tables and more time practicing some manners."

George turned to Anthy and offered her a friendly smile. "My apologies, Miss Anthy. I just can't resist getting my jabs in whenever this loser shows up." He offered her a clean hand to shake, and she did.

"It's nice to meet you, George," she said charmingly. She could see a blush forming under his golden tanned skin. "Tell me, does Utena come here a lot?"

"She does," he said, forgetting for a moment to let go of her hand. "Almost every day. Orders the same thing too. A number five with cheese fries."

"Is that so?" Anthy said with a smirk, glancing at Utena. The woman huffed and straightened her jacket self-importantly.

"Not like anyone could blame me," she said.

"True enough," George conceded. "But you should really start sticking to salads. I haven't wanted to say anything, but…"

"Oh really? Oh. Really? You wanna compare six-packs again, shrimp?" Utena even stood up, puffing out her chest. Anthy pulled her back down with a snicker. "And to think, you're so rude that you come and pull this stuff when I'm with a lady. I should tell your mom on you."

"You started it," George said, before walking away get their check. Utena stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. When she looked back to find Anthy hiding laughter behind her hand, she tried to look disapproving, but couldn't manage it.

"Don't mind the kid. He's all talk," she said.

"Would you really have made him compare abdominal muscles?"

Utena grinned proudly. "Of course! He's got nothing on me." She looked at the witch with curiosity. "And you, you could've charmed that kid out of his lunch money with just a smile. You've still got it."

"Got what?" Anthy asked, honestly curious. Utena just grinned.

A minute later, George came back with their check. Anthy paid, despite Utena's protests, and then they got up to leave.

"Don't be a stranger, Miss Anthy," the boy called after them. Anthy smiled and waved when Utena turned back to make a face at him.

Back out in the street, Anthy almost instantly wanted to go back into the restaurant. But an arm came around her shoulder and Utena was talking softly in her ear. "Anthy, what's wrong?"

"C-crowds," Anthy said simply, eyes darting around nervously, sure that something awful was going to happen.

"Oh… Oh!" Utena exclaimed with realization. Her arm tightened. She looked around thoughtfully. "Don't worry, Anthy. We'll go somewhere else. Hey, how about my place? It's just down the street. Is that… okay with you?"

Anthy nodded, keeping her mouth closed. She might not have eaten anything, but she was suddenly sure she would vomit if she opened her mouth. Utena rubbed her arm and started leading her along the sidewalk. People stepped aside for them as they passed, and it seemed that they could not escape attention entirely. The witch pressed closer to Utena, trying to make herself small and unremarkable, as she had so often done in Ohtori. Her efforts paid off. People looked away, but somehow she didn't feel any better. The sun was shining brightly, but it offered no relief from the cold. In fact, the only warmth Anthy could feel was from the woman beside her. That was probably a metaphor for something, Anthy thought absently, but she was much too distracted and, frankly, right sick of symbolism to think deeper about it. She was shivering; she wrapped her arms around her torso and cursed herself for forgetting gloves.

"We're almost there," Utena said, and sure enough, they soon stopped before a plain red brick building with concrete steps and wrought iron railings leading up to a pair of black doors. Utena pulled the right door opened and gently ushered Anthy inside. "Mine's on the third floor. The elevator is right over here."

The inside of the elevator was small and somewhat musty. ChuChu sneezed, and she handed him a tissue. "Sorry," Utena said, looking slightly embarrassed. "This old thing just got fixed after being broken for like two months. It's still a little dusty. And noisy. And slow."

"It's fine," Anthy said. "How long have you been living here?"

Utena scratched her chin thoughtfully. "'Bout three years now. Although, I used to live in a place on the fifth floor." She smiled humorously. "I've been upgraded since then."

"The third floor is better?"

"Oh yes." Blue eyes glinted. "Less stairs, less time in an elevator, less height. Less of so many things I've come to dislike." It was Anthy's turn to be embarrassed. She looked away, her face heating up. But then she felt a kiss land on her cheek, and she looked back up in surprise. Utena was smiling gently, leaning against the wall with one arm. When she spoke, her voice was tender if teasing. "You know, I still haven't quite forgiven you for not telling me about the elevator to the Dueling Arena from the get go. Do you know how many cramps I got climbing those damnable stairs? And every time I would get up there and you and the challenger would already be there; what was up with that? You never said… Did they just show up early? Did they have another way of getting there that was exclusive to the Student Council?" Utena leaned in closer. Anthy could smell the leather of her jacket. "And what about you?" She murmured. "How did you always get there before me?"

"Magic," Anthy said. She found that she was struggling to breathe normally. This time, though, it wasn't from anxiety, but rather a much different feeling. She licked her lips, trying but failing not to notice blue eyes move in time. "The Student Council had a gondola from their meeting place. Sort of." She didn't mention how the Black Rose duelists had gotten there. She never would if she could manage it.

"Sort of…" Utena repeated pensively. "Yeah, 'sort of' makes sense doesn't it? Since everything was just an illusion from the Planetarium. Still." She smiled again. "The thigh burn was very real." Anthy managed a weak smile back, noting once again how Utena's gaze darted downward as she did so.

The elevator made a dinging sound and came to a stop. Utena looked vaguely disappointed, but the expression was gone by the time the doors opened. "It's over here," she said, jerking her thumb at a door on the left-hand side. The number was (important symbolic holy number here). Anthy firmly chose to ignore that. Utena unlocked the door and went inside first, tugging Anthy behind her. Lights came on, illuminating a small sitting area with a kitchen off to the left side. A door on the right was ajar; no doubt the door to the bedroom. The sitting area was a little bare. It held a futon in its upright position, one wooden side table with a lamp on it, a simple coffee table made of dark wood, and one battered armchair all on a large blue rug. Against the wall was another dark table with a television sitting on top of it. What especially captured Anthy's interest though was the mounted cello in the far corner, leaning proudly on its stand with its case tucked behind. She went to have a closer look.

It was a modest model, nothing like the outrageous ones she had seen in the past. It was built by a respectable name. Anthy remembered that this model was known for its durability rather than its flashiness. The witch couldn't guess at its age, but it was most definitely well-loved and well-used.

"You play?" She asked, gently plucking a string.

"Mmm." Utena was standing right behind her, peering over her shoulder. Anthy marveled that she could be so quiet. "Once upon a time, I was awfully good at it, if I do say so myself." The younger woman smirked. "Fortunately, my skills came back with the rest of my memories."

"Oh?" Anthy asked, almost whispered. "You never said…"

She felt Utena shrug. "No one ever asked."

"And what about the keyboard?" Anthy looked at the other instrument sitting in the room, tucked in the opposite corner. Utena snorted softly.

"Well, you and Miki inspired me. I started learning to play a few years back, and I'd like to think I'm fairly proficient at this point."

"You've done so much," Anthy murmured. She felt her eyes burn and she blinked to clear them while wondering at her own reactions.

"Eh, I suppose," Utena said. She rested a hand on Anthy's shoulder and turned her around. "But I can't think I've done more than you, Miss World Traveler Anthy Himemiya." She fingered the lapels of Anthy's jacket. "I've seen this style before; Italian, right? It's very pretty." Her touch moved to Anthy's white beret. "France, of course." One finger gently batted at one of her jade earrings. "New Zealand, right? Or maybe Burma?"

"How do you know all that?"

Utena grinned. "My own research. And the shopping network."

"You hated that," Anthy said, stating the obvious because she couldn't think of anything else while this woman was so close to her.

That smile widened. "I still do. But I know people who watch it just as religiously as you." She shut her eyes and sighed dramatically. "There's no escape for me, it seems. Not when I have to buy people presents." Opening her eyes, she continued. "But you've been all over, haven't you? You got these in person."

"Yes, I was…"

Utena tilted her head. "What?"

Anthy swallowed. "I was searching. Looking for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, I… I looked everywhere. This whole time I've been…" Curse her, but her speech was finally failing. Her emotions were getting the better of her again and she couldn't rein them in like she used to. The real weight of it all was sinking in. Utena was here, in the flesh before her. She was living and breathing, miraculously, after everything that had happened. The witch would be lying if she said a part of her didn't expect to find her hero immobile in a hospital, or worse. And Utena was speaking to her, happy to see her even after everything Anthy had done. She was speaking to her as if none of it had come to pass, which was stupid and unexpected and so very much like that noble girl of years past who had tried so hard to be a Prince. Utena had changed except in the ways she hadn't, and somehow that made the knot in Anthy's throat grow all the more.

"Anthy? Hey, don't cry…" Utena's expression was concerned, and her hands were cupping the witch's face. Her thumbs wiped away unexpected tears, tears Anthy had as little control over as she did every other reaction to this impossible woman in front of her. Utena's hands were rougher than they used to be, and bigger too. Anthy could feel calluses left from hard work against her cheeks. She cried over them, over the loss of inexperience and the inescapable change that came to all people in time. It was absurd, but somehow she thought that change would never come to Utena, to the girl who had held so stubbornly to her childhood that she started a Revolution with the strength of her innocent ideals.

Did she still hold those ideals? Or were they discarded long ago, left far behind in the storm of newfound adulthood? Anthy didn't know, couldn't guess. She didn't know this older Utena, how she acted or how to handle her. Once the witch had prided herself on knowing all people for who they really were, but then this child had appeared before her in an empty church, wearing a funeral dress and her heart on her sleeve. Utena had crashed into her sub-par existence in a torrent of blind passion and bull-headed good intentions. She had smashed a lot of things, but most of all Anthy's arrogant preconceptions. And she was doing it all again, here in this time and place. She surprised Anthy with her maturity, both physical and emotional. She surprised Anthy with her happiness, with the way that every smile reached her eyes. Most of all, she surprised Anthy with her kindness, just like before.

Utena had changed except in all the ways that she hadn't, and Anthy cried over that; whether in despair or elation, she couldn't say.

"Anthy…" The witch found herself in Utena's arms. The other woman was holding her close and stroking her hair, whispering to her, trying to soothe. "It's alright. Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm right here. Tell me what's wrong." But Anthy couldn't answer. Her words were stopped up. Utena pulled back a bit to look at her face. Her blue eyes burned Anthy with their sincerity and worry. "What do you need?"

Her mouth opening and shutting, the witch fought for any level of coherency, even if she could only cobble together the simplest of phrases. This feeling was not something willing to be tied down with words, but she had to try. She let out a sob. "I… I need…"

"What?" Utena whispered. "Tell me. Show me, if you have to."

Show?

When Anthy kissed her, for a moment it was like they were right back in Ohtori, in their tower room in the middle of the night. The kiss was chaste and sweet and almost as innocent, and Utena's body was like a tower in its way, a warm, living shield protecting Anthy from harm. Of course, it was also better than anything in Ohtori could ever be. Here in this moment, there were no baleful eyes watching from the shadows, no impending duel to worry over, no grief or confusion or deception tainting the mood, and, best of all, no swords under Anthy's skin whispering cruel lies and even crueler truths in her mind.

Utena, now 23 years old, was much more experienced with her mouth than before. She had kissed other people in these nine years to be sure. Later, Anthy might find the energy/emotional capacity to be viciously jealous about that, but right now she was grateful as the kiss turned from a child's simple affection into something more intimate. As gentle and undemanding as she had always been, Utena pressed her lips more boldly to Anthy's, making a soft sound in the back of her throat. The kiss became something fierce, and the witch welcomed it, echoing that soft moan.

It didn't extend beyond that, though, and Anthy didn't bother trying to sort through her feelings on the matter. When they pulled apart for breath, they were both red in the face, Utena especially so. The younger woman licked her lips and opened her eyes to stare in surprise. "S-so, show, huh?"

"Show," Anthy agreed, finding it in her upturned heart to let out a weak chuckle. Utena chuckled too, her grip around Anthy's waist loosening as though she was a little embarrassed. It was silly and awkward, and somehow it was just what the witch needed to get a hold of herself at last.

Taking a deep breath, she reached into her purse (which somehow had not fallen to the floor) and ChuChu gave her a handkerchief to wipe away the remaining tear tracks from her face. It was unnatural, really, that something so small could put a lock on wild emotions the way it did. However, Anthy had grown used to unnatural things since meeting Utena Tenjou.

The other woman was taking the time to compose herself as well, releasing Anthy in favor of straightening her jacket, breathing regularly, and clearing her throat. The beet-like redness in her cheeks hadn't faded, and her head was ducked. Shy, yet another trait that had persisted over the years; at least, around Anthy she could still be shy. It was clear that, for all of her not-so-subtle desire for it, a kiss was the last thing Utena expected to get from the witch. The young hero had never liked being caught off-guard by anything, but Anthy thought this reaction was and always would be unspeakably cute. The witch decided to make the first move once again, putting her fingers under Utena's chin and tilting her head back up.

The younger woman smiled bashfully, and then straightened up. "Do you, uh, have any plans today?" She swallowed. "I mean, if you're free, do you maybe want to hang out here for a bit? We can… talk. If you want to." Again she looked away, filled suddenly with the tongue-tied grace of a smitten school-boy.

Anthy smiled. "No, I had no plans," she lied. "And talking sounds… nice."

Utena looked up in surprise again. Was it really so stunning? "G-good! I'm glad! Um, uh, why don't you make yourself at home? Can I get you anything? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

Thinking about the beverage she barely touched back in the restaurant, Anthy said, "I am a little thirsty. I wouldn't mind a drink."

"Okay," Utena said, taking off her jacket and taking Anthy's as well with all due (but really unneeded) respect, and going to hang them on hooks by the door. She headed into the kitchen while the witch took a seat on the couch, closest to the corner where the cello stood. She listened to the sounds of rummaging in the kitchen, and took a few more calming breaths. There had been enough commotion in one morning to last the witch for a week, and now it was time to settle down again. Or so she hoped.

She heard Utena call from the kitchen, "D'you like Sam Adams?"


End file.
